The first two days of fall brought quite a few migrating birds to Evergreen Lake. A cold front moving down out of Canada brought cold rain followed by the first snow. I am not ready for snow yet and hope we may still have some Indian summer weather.

The year 2010 is shaping up to be one of the most active primary seasons in recent Colorado history. In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet (who was appointed by Gov. Bill Ritter when Ken Salazar became secretary of the interior) faces a spirited challenge from within his own party from Andrew Romanoff, former speaker of the state House.

Whenever Colorado’s budget is in distress, it seems that the biggest target is always on the back of higher education. The four biggest pots of general-fund moneys in the state budget are Medicaid, prisons, K-12 education and higher education. For practical, political and legal reasons, the first three are generally pretty protected. Higher education is often left to bear the biggest brunt of the reductions.

Jeffco Sheriff Ted Mink says the county should have the authority to require banks and other property owners to maintain foreclosed and abandoned properties to help head off crime and preserve property values.

"With all these foreclosures out there, there's a lot of additional criminal activity," Mink told the county commissioners Sept. 15. "They attract crime, and the neighbors get upset. Some cities have authority to force banks to do something with the properties; counties don't."

The first annual Mountain Bowl was a not-so-subtle reminder of many things worth applauding.

You think community spirit is dying? Maybe, but not when it comes to the football programs at Evergreen and Conifer high schools.

Longtime Conifer coach Larry Fitzmaurice has lobbied for years to try and get this rivalry game moved up to the schools and away from the sterile district environment at Trailblazer Stadium in Lakewood.

EVERGREEN — The crowd of girls waiting to grab the attention of Chris Roggow was both giggling and needy.

Such is the life of an Evergreen senior after scoring two goals and setting up a third against an old rival.

Roggow and the Cougars played like a car stuck in overdrive against the Conifer Lobos. They flew up and down and all around their home field, stretched the Lobos’ defense and cruised to a 4-2 Class 4A Jefferson County League victory on Sept. 30.

LITTLETON — Nothing, it seems, can slow down the Evergreen girls cross-country team.

Battling through illness, the Cougars picked up a pair of wins last week, including one at the Dave Sanders Invitational at Clement Park on Oct. 2. The Cougars dominated the field — even with top runner Tayler Warren out of the lineup — placing four runners in the top-11.

The consensus was reached at 12:30 a.m. after about 40 people presented their views, the majority against Open Space’s plan.

The main feature of a compromise plan unveiled Sept. 21 involved restricting cyclists to an uphill one-way route on the Enchanted Forest Trail on alternating, odd-numbered days. That may change to alternating even-numbered days in the final version of the plan.